Posted: 10/17/2008 11:43:47 PM EDT
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I am thinkin of buying a 1988 to 1991 Isuzu Trooper. Anyone ever owned one? Are they pretty stout and reliable? I am leaning towards the 4 cylinder 5 speed. |
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I bought a Trooper II in 1989 and drove it until 2004. Had a GM V6 and was std shift. After 1996 it was a 3rd vehicle, so it was only used on weekend errands and in the snow (Maryland). It was a real work horse and endured a lot of punishment. Even rolled it off an 8 foot drop, into the woods, and was driven out. I never did any modifications to this truck. IIRC it had nearly 200K mikes when it was forced into retirement due to a severely rusted frame. Only mechanical issues were a clutch replacement (normal) and one of the brake fittings rusted off. The brake issue happened while driving 50mph, down hill on a city street, in traffic. No brakes but thank God for std shift. 
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I owned a 1995 Trooper. It survived me for about 185,000 miles on the original engine and transmission. Solid little vehicle - better than a Ford Explorer by far in the offroad capacity. It served as a first vehicle for my two daughters up to 194,000 miles when it was totalled - driven into a tree. Never burned oil - had a small leak around the valve cover but it was too much trouble to get to so I just left it alone. I would check it out good - valves get ticky when they get dirty with high mileage. If they have kept it serviced, it shouild be alright. Also check the 4wd - lotsa folks bought them for the SUV look but don't use the 4wd enough to keep the grease distributed - if its got auto locking hubs, this can get expensive. |
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I've had two Troopers, an '85 and a '94. Really fun trucks to play around in, but I wouldn't count on them as a primary at that age. Currently, it is damn near impossible to find factory parts. OEM stuff is expensive and there is little aftermarket support. I went to our local "pull-a-part" junk yard and the five Troopers on hand had been raped. The only remaining parts were the sheet metal and glass. A simple window switch cost $100 on ebay after extensive searching...any other vehicle (4runner, explorer, etc) would be $15-$25 tops. Just an example of what you will find on the internet since the boneyard will be picked clean! roy d...research your parts availability...you'll need them 
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I've driven 2 different Troopers for quite a while in the past. First was a 86 2.3l that was a fine truck, easy to work on if you can get parts. I bought it with a burnt valve, did an entire rebuild over a weekend, removed all the emissions crap, and it was a great truck for many years until I got rear-ended by a F-350 doing 45. The 2.6l (i think it's a 2.6) in the later models is known as a head cracker, and the heads are hard to find. The V6 was only 10 more HP. My 2nd trooper was a 92 3.2l, and it was a good truck except for the damned AC being so expensive to work on. The third time it crapped out I traded it on a 99 Explorer, and have put 120k on it since then. I still like the look and feel of both series Trooper though. My dream would be finding a 86 diesel, they were very nice, good mileage and spunky. |
